Time Leap
by KaguraSerenityOgata88
Summary: When Katsuya Jounouchi dies unexpectedly, Seto Kaiba finds himself unable to cope with a world without him. After nearly a decade, Kaiba finally succeeds in creating a time machine that allows him to leap years back in time to save the love of his life. Will Jounouchi be saved, or will Kaiba be doomed to relive the pain of losing him all over again?
1. Prologue: Welcome to Hell

I'm taking a short mini-break from my first Jou/Kaiba fic to write this sudden burst of inspiration. Actually this could be considered my first one since the sun, the moon, and the pretty little stars is really a multi-coupled fic but in this one I just want to focus on these two. This fic will probably be a short one because I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to get back to it given how busy I am.

* * *

 **Prologue: Welcome to Hell**

Within one minute, Seto Kaiba's life changed forever. Just one minute. Just a few moments in time had a ripple effect. And it's all over a single man named Katsuya Jounouchi.

The last day of school at Domino High was like any other day. The school had become vacant and noise had left the halls. Graduation was over yet Kaiba was still there, out of a nagging curiosity. Someone had left a note for him and Kaiba had been wondering why he had been called to an empty classroom after everyone had left. He was surprised to find Jounouchi standing there with his eyes squeezed shut.

"You look like you're wishing awfully hard, don't hurt yourself mutt."

Jounouchi's ears perked and opened his eyes slowly. When he saw Kaiba standing there he became strangely happy. "Yo Kaiba!" Jounouchi said cheerfully with a wave.

Kaiba's eye flinched watching his insult fly right over Jounouchi's head. The guy was tanned having just come back from winning nationals at Koshien a week earlier. Something about him seemed brighter than usual. They hadn't spoken since before he left where Kaiba had challenged him to prove he wasn't a loser dog. Katsuya Jounouchi had just graduated as the best batter in the country. "Cocky are we, because you won your little baseball game?"

Jounouchi eyed narrowed. "And who was it that said I couldn't win again?"

"So you proved me wrong. Would like a standing ovation?"

Jounouchi's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Kaiba to admit defeat so easily. "You saw, didn't you?"

"I caught it on TV, channel 4 was it?"

"Liar. I saw you in the stands."

Kaiba looked away slightly embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. What a pointlessly great eyesight Jounouchi had to be able to find him in a stadium full of thousands of people. "I just happened to have nothing to do that day."

Jounouchi smiled stupidly to himself. "I never thought you would actually come. We were 3 runs down with bases loaded and two outs. I was crumbling under the pressure until I looked up and saw you there. All I did was aim the bat for your head and it connected." Jounouchi laughed out loud.

Kaiba shrugged. "If that's the case your aim is terrible." Jounouchi stopped laughing when he noticed Kaiba walk up right up to him. He looked at his face and could see Kaiba's curt smile. "I guess I can't call you a loser dog anymore…"

Kaiba had let his guard down. After all, they had graduated and it was the last day they would ever seen each other. He just didn't know how to say goodbye. He raised a hand and patted Jounouchi's soft blond hair. "Congratulations… that last home run was really something else." The sound of the ball hitting the bat still rang in his ears. Kaiba didn't know that something other than duel monsters could excite him so much.

Jounouchi was stunned. A warm hand had touched his head, igniting something within him. He couldn't find his voice until he noticed Kaiba was leaving. "Wait…" Jounouchi instinctually grabbed Kaiba's sleeve stopping him in his tracks. "There's something… I promised myself I would tell you if we won…that's why I called you here."

Kaiba looked back at him with a bored look on his face. Was he going to rub his face in it? Don't tell me he was looking for an apology for all the years he had belittled him. But strangely those notions were dispelled when he saw Jounouchi look away with a faint blush on his face.

"I… you've always managed to get under my skin. With the way you are I was convinced I would hate you forever but…"

Kaiba could feel his own face growing hot. What was he trying to say?

"But I… f-for a long time I just… ARGH! The words won't come out the right way!"

Kaiba raised a brow. He opened his mouth with the intention of offering some witty snarky reply but his eyes widened when he was prevented from doing so. There was suddenly an external force pushing against his lips. He was being kissed. The kiss was soft at first and then it naturally deepened. When Kaiba finally got his bearings his pushed Jounouchi away and stumbled backward. "W-what are you doing?"

"I love you." He blurted out without thinking.

"You love who?" Kaiba was incredulous. He wasn't sure he heard right.

"Why make me say it again?!" Jounouchi sighed. "You're an egotistical tyrant who pisses me off in every single conversation we've ever had. Even I… even I have thought 'why do I have to be in love with a bastard like this?'"

"Oi, what kind of quasi-confession is that?!" Typical that Jounouchi couldn't even do that right.

"Are you saying you _wanted_ me to confess to you?!"

He got Kaiba with that one. "But why…? How?"

Jounouchi sighed heavily, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know how to explain it. I tried so hard… I tried so hard not to like you. I even dated a few girls thinking I could forget about you. I even succeeded in fooling myself into believing that I didn't care. But it all came back to you, it always comes back to you. It couldn't be anyone else other than you… Even after that I tried to keep these feelings to myself. I knew telling them to you wouldn't make you happy, who wants to hear such a thing from a guy anyway? But in the end I…"

 _Kaiba was in the stands watching him. He met his gaze only once before raising his bat for the last time. 'It would be nice… if these feelings could reach him someday…' was the only thought that crossed his mind before closing his swinging as hard as he could._

"I've figured you out. You're so cold and harsh… like you have to attack anyone who gets close to you. As if you don't need anyone else in this world, as if even without them you can still survive. But isn't that… isn't that just too lonely?"

Kaiba turned his back to him, he didn't like being analyzed. "Careful. Don't presume to understand everything about me."

"If it were me, I'd never let you be lonely." Jounouchi looked down. "Am I no good? Even as a champion, am I really not good enough to be the person by your side?" He could hear Kaiba's footsteps getting further and further away from him. "If that's what it is, then I'll just have to become a man worthy of you! I'll just have to make you fall in love with me too! I'll just keep pursuing you until–"

 _Click._ Jounouchi looked up after hearing the door lock to Kaiba was staring back at him with those cerulean blue eyes. He could never tell what he was thinking. "Until you're mine…"

"Is that so?" The initial shock had worn off. Kaiba was sure he was thinking clearly so why hadn't he left like he had wanted to? He should reject this entire situation, reject someone trying to get close to him, being adored by this idiot wasn't supposed to make him feel like this. It was perplexing, troubling and yet for some reason he had become happy about it. "I'll just have to hold you to those words, won't I?"

Jounouchi felt a hand on his cheek. It was surprisingly warm. "I'll have to take this chance now then. Before you annoy me with your stubbornness."

"You're not… mad?" Jounouchi was sure the notion that Jounouchi liked him would make the CEO violently ill. But on the contrary the CEO laughed at the sentiment, pulling the blond closer to him.

"I don't know what you mean. Did you tell me all that to make me angry?" Kaiba asked. Kaiba didn't have to think very long about it at all. To him, for the last three years Jounouchi had been an immovable structure. Always butting into his life and pushing him out of his comfort zone. They'd fight, argue, bicker like children and then repeat the same routine the next time around but at the end of each day what Kaiba always remembered was Jounouchi's infectious smile and the overwhelming sense that he was being cared about, more than anyone had ever bothered to before. And smile would always cause Kaiba to smile. "I'm just doing what you asked me to do. If you became a champion just to tell me this then I should give you a proper response, shouldn't I?" But it wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how happy Jounouchi's feelings for him had made him. It wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how much he didn't want to lose Jounouchi.

The raging ocean that was Kaiba's eyes washed over him. That look held so many different things, yet none of the things he thought he'd see. There was no anger, there was no disgust, and most of all there was not a trace of ridicule. Instead in their place Jounouchi could see arrogance, amusement, immeasurable power and yet indescribable gentility. Kaiba always stirred him up deeply, making him angry to no end yet leaving him unable to forget him, leaving him wishing for more. Jounouchi was somewhat mystified as he couldn't understand what Kaiba was doing until the man's lips were over his. Jounouchi blinked as the boy gained entry into his mouth and deepened the kiss. Kaiba's kiss was so tender and succulent Jounouchi could hardly believe it was the same guy he always fought with as he felt his breath being stolen away. His hands gripped Kaiba's jacket as his tongue collided with Kaiba's once and then again. It was this feeling… this feeling was what he had fallen in love with. The feeling that he was with someone who could take make his heart tremble like this.

And then the two lost all control. They began kissing each other as if it were the last time they were ever going to do so. They were deep furious kisses, filled with the zeal of wonder and anticipation. Kaiba was backed up against the wall and could feel Jounouchi's lips travel to his neck as his hands made their way up Kaiba's back, removing Kaiba's jacket in the process. Kaiba winced momentarily feeling Jounouchi's teeth graze his neck roughly. He suppressed a laugh at the thought that Jounouchi really couldn't get away from his dog-like tendencies. He was definitely going to have to mention it later but for right now the action get him incredibly aroused.

Jounouchi could feel his shirt go over his head. They resumed kissing, more intense than the last time. And then he felt Kaiba tugging at his pants and soon after that he was stark naked with his fingers working on getting Kaiba the same way. After succeeding, he felt himself being carried to the teacher's desk knocking down most items from the almost bare table.

Jounouchi broke the kiss suddenly, trying to catch his breath. His small nose fell onto Kaiba's lips and then he felt the doubt set in. This all felt too good to be true. Jounouchi almost felt like he shouldn't be allowed to have this. "Are you… sure? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Kaiba was the first to catch his breath as he let out a sigh. "Well, that's a hell of a thing to ask when we've already gotten this far." Kaiba noted, mildly amazed. They were in a high school classroom naked before it occurred to this canine for brains to ask something so obvious and unnecessary.

"I just…" Jounouchi caressed the boy's face before looking down. "I just don't want this to become something you'll regret. You don't know how you'll feel tomorrow."

Kaiba kissed Jounouchi's forehead holding his lips there for a few moments before removing them. The action caused the blond to look up at him. "I thought I told you not to presume you know everything about me. You force your way into my life and pester me for three years never tiring of doing the unexpected, even now. It's true, I never thought I'd hear those words from you but… it's not like I don't feel anything for you at all." Kaiba admitted. "The time for regretting this sort of thing has long passed."

Once the words registered with Jounouchi, he couldn't help but become unreasonably pleased. After all, it was probably the closest thing he would ever hear to Kaiba confessing his feelings and it was extraordinary how ridiculously emotional it made him.

Kaiba reached for the bottle of hand lotion on the teacher's desk as they resumed their lustful skinship. In that empty classroom, of that vacant building, amidst the glowing orange hue of the setting sun the two chased the pleasure of their writhing bodies many times, until they thought would die from it.

* * *

It was now two years later and Kaiba was sitting in his office at Kaiba Corp just reminiscing… caught in a loo _p_ of memories he couldn't get out of.

 _Jounouchi let out an unrestrained laugh much to Kaiba's annoyance. "Serves you right, moneybags!"_

 _Wild lust..._

 _His smile was like the sun, illuminating all the shadows living in his heart._

 _Hot kisses..._

 _The Kaiba manor became filled with his light._

 _Sweaty passion..._

 _"Fuck you!" Jounouchi was furious throwing books at him in the study, a symptom of their argument going too far._

 _Heat like fire..._

 _So simple a person, wanting to kill him one minute to wreaking mischief the next. Jounouchi always manage to make himself the center of his attention._

 _Were all pinned down between the sheets..._

 _With Jounouchi, sometimes angry make up sex was the best sex._

 _Their love was a stormy sea..._

 _The blond-haired man snuggled right into his chest as they drifted to sleep._

 _A raging hurricane in choppy waters..._

 _"You know Kaiba," Jounouchi whispered to him when he thought the CEO was asleep. "I will always protect you… because I absolutely don't ever want to pain to come to you. Sometimes I don't even know why and yet I know exactly… why I love you like crazy."_

 _...and yet still, a sea of fascination._

 _'Ah... I see now. I was born to have this person... I was born to love this person...' was Kaiba's last thought before his contented slumber._

Those days were neither beautiful nor ugly, they were simply special. To Kaiba they were so dear, so dear that Kaiba's eyes threatened to water. There was no way to describe the way the memories of those days sustained him.

" _There's so much blood… how do I stop it?!" Kaiba screamed._

" _I'm sorry…" Jounouchi coughed up blood before smiling weakly. "I had wanted... more time with you…"_

" _Katsuya… don't do this to me…" Kaiba said with his voice breaking. "Open your eyes…"_

" _Breaking news: Katsuya Jounouchi, world renowned baseball player has died at the age of 20, victim of the most senseless of tragedies. He was so young…"_

 _I never told him how much I…_

In a fit of rage, Kaiba suddenly ran a hand through his desk knocking everything to the floor with a loud crash before slamming his fists against the wood in utter frustration. For the first time in two years he was starting to do the one thing he told himself he would never do. He was starting to regret. If he knew that losing Jounouchi would hurt this much, he never would've started with him. If he knew that going on without him would this unbearable, he would've never held Jounouchi in his arms that day. With each passing moment, Kaiba was realizing more and more that the world and everything in it, without Jounouchi it was all meaningless. The world with Jounouchi was an absolute absurdity. The world without Jounouchi was…

The light shined through his office window depicted such a beautiful day but that only made Kaiba angrier. He became infuriated with the sunshine. _How can the world be so bright, when you're no longer in it? How can the Earth keep turning like nothing ever happened?_ _How can the seasons keep changing? Seasons without you… how can they keep coming? I took you for granted. Without ever telling you a thing, I just assumed that you and I were forever._ _I didn't know it before but I know it now…_ _that the world without you… is hell._

The world without Katsuya Jounouchi was Seto Kaiba's never-ending hell.

* * *

 **8 pages:** So I get the criticism that Kaiba's a little bit nicer than he's supposed to be but I didn't really want to ruin their sexual connection with his assholeness. Let's just assume that they got through the weeds of his mean personality in order to get to this point. Super short, I know. I know you guys aren't used to me writing this little but I wrote this out of sudden burst of inspiration. And I think I'm going to keep this one PG. I think there's enough mature content in my other story, not all stories need to be lemons. I'm going to see how far I can take this without really getting into the nitty gritty of the actual sexual acts. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to get back to it, especially since I'm so invested in my other story but I will one of these days. Please give me the motivation not to drop this. Read and Review!


	2. My Enemy

Hello all, school has started again (ugh) which means I'm going to have even less time to write this story, sorry. BUT! I will update. It will just probably take longer than expected. Be sure to check out my other jou/kaiba fic that is much further along than this.

Disclaimer: I don't own yadda yadda yadda.

* * *

 **My Enemy**

 _I have an astoundingly interesting boyfriend. One that is funny, playful and endlessly charming. Waking up beside him like this can be such an amusing thing. As I look at the person sleeping in my arms, his hair is a disheveled mess, his mouth is wide open, and he's even starting to drool. Seriously, no sex appeal whatsoever the way this idiot sleeps, and yet the image has me grinning from ear to ear. We've been together for a year so I know. When he sleeps like that, I know it's because I completely exhausted him the night before._

 _This is my favorite time of day. I get to steal glances at him without him knowing. There are too many things that ruin it when he does know. Like that mouth chock full of obscenities over what I perceive to be the littlest of concerns. So what if I like drown myself in work for days at a time? Productivity is my compass. So what if I don't make it to every one of his games? It's just hitting a ball and running around in circles, it's not like anything changes from the last time I saw him do it. So what if we don't spend enough time together? We're both insanely busy people, but we live together, isn't that enough?_

 _We spend so much time bickering over the dumbest things, mostly because he's an idiot. He's the guy who fell in love with his tormentor, how could he not be? But when he's not using that foul mouth of his to say ridiculous things he can become the cutest creature on earth. The golden haired man who lies beside me, whose nose crinkles at almost everything I do, whose kisses are brimming with honey, the same honey that colors his eyes, and whose smile makes me feel like I'm being engulfed in the rays of the sun. How I really feel, I could never bring myself to say it. I always lose my nerve and get embarrassed. I don't even know how to put it in words. When will I ever get to tell him? How adorable I find him, how irreplaceable I find him, when will I ever get to tell him that? As I watch him snort in his sleep I stifle my laughter, just to gaze at him for a few more minutes. For there is no one else like him in the entire world._

" _It's got to be a crime." Katsuya says as he stirs. "To be that good-looking in the morning, it's got to be illegal."_

 _The words bring a smile to my lips. There's nothing normal about him, even his way of complimenting me is unusual. "What are you on about now?"_

" _Must be the work of a god that hates me," he continues, "making the face of my enemy look so goddamn attractive. How the hell am I supposed to stay angry with you when you look like that?"_

 _There he goes, his way of withholding his forgiveness even though within him he's already given it. That's what the word 'enemy' has come to mean to me. I can't resist this opportunity to tease him. I bring my face closer to his until we're a breath apart. "Are you sure about that? Who's your enemy, again?" I ask him in a very low sultry tone._

" _You are." Katsuya says before looking away. "You were always my enemy, falling in love with you wasn't going to change that."_

 _Why do those words make me so embarrassingly happy and indescribably content? I can't even tell what I enjoy more, hearing that he loves me or hearing that I'm his 'enemy.' I must hide these feelings from him though, otherwise this enemy of mine will know that he's won. From the tips of my hair to the soles of my feet, my whole body starts to feel hot. Some courage this guy's got, averting his gaze when I'm like this. I blow on his ear and the result is just as I expect. He reddened considerably with a small yelp and brought his gaze right back to me on reflex. Like a puppy, his ears are unreasonably sensitive. He raises his hand to push me away but I catch it the air and bring it to my chest. I know he can feel how fast my heart is beating. But I can't be the only one, I have to make his heart beat faster than mine or I just won't be satisfied._

 _Because his light is becoming something I can't live without. As my lips melt into his and I bring him closer, I know… that this heat that warms all the cold broken parts of me has become something I can't live without._

28-year-old Seto Kaiba awoke from his sleep rather listlessly, beside him nothing but cold satin sheets to greet him good morning. Dreams of Katsuya always made him that way, dreams he never wanted to wake up from plagued him almost every night. In the years since Katsuya's departure, Kaiba spent his days like a dead person who was still functioning. He was taking up space and breathing but he wasn't really there. He knew within him that he wasn't really living, he just wasn't dead yet.

Eight years ago Kaiba nearly committed suicide. Were it not for Mokuba's plea, and being convinced that his younger brother still needed him, he would've followed Katsuya into the next world. As it stood it had already been several years since Mokuba took over the company. Kaiba's nonstop work weeks where he was driven solely by productivity and results were a thing of the past. They were the source of so many of their arguments, due to Kaiba sometimes skipping their meals together just to work. Currently unemployed Kaiba was still skipping meals, just that Katsuya was no longer around to remind him to eat.

Every once in a while he would go see a baseball game. In a way it was like having a date with Katsuya. Katsuya loved that game even more than he loved duel monsters and Kaiba could still feel his spirit lingering in the place. He visited Koushien often, made it a point to watch the nationals live every year, though he could never relive the excitement he felt when Katsuya was on the field. Except for him, everyone had forgotten the star player that won Koushien ten years prior, the young trailblazer that set the world on fire eight years ago. Every once in a while he'd sponsor exceptional players, as he felt like it was something Katsuya would want him to do, and wondered what strategies Katsuya would've used against them. Had he lived, Kaiba was sure they would've become Katsuya's greatest rivals.

And then he'd walk the streets of Domino and reminisce. Reminisce over the places he took Katsuya, regret all the places he didn't. He saw how stupid he was, putting everything else in his life before Katsuya, and thinking it would just be enough to see him at home. He now longed for more memories of his smile. There were plenty, but he wished for more, more of his laughter would make up for other things. To Kaiba, more vivid than Katsuya's smile were his tears.

 _We both just got back from America after participating in the world series and Katsuya is in a particularly questionable mood. He suffered a crushing defeat, but he had only been in the majors for a year. No one expected him to win, making the top 8 was still an achievement according to the people officiating the match. The paper had glowing remarks about him despite the loss. Still the usually boisterous Katsuya spent the last 20-hour plane ride without uttering a word. He hadn't eaten, he hadn't slept, and he was in a sort of trance._

 _Well I've had enough of this. It's time to give him a piece of my mind._

" _This isn't like you. Was losing that shocking?" I say abruptly. "It's not the first time you've lost, just get over it. Stop acting like the world is about to come to an end."_

 _Katsuya looks at me for a long time and then forces a smile. "You're right, I don't know why I should let this affect me so much. I had a great team behind me, and we did our best. I should be happy with that and I should be happy even just making it to the world series."_

 _Hearing him agree with me leaves an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. He says that but then a tear slides down his face and he becomes confused. He hadn't even realized he had been crying._

 _Katsuya looks down from me and it's not until I approach him that I notice that he's trembling, trying desperately to hold it all in. I've known this guy for far too long not to know how hungry for victory he was. I slowly embrace him and that was all he needed to fall apart. I can feel his soft sobs against my neck. "Why are you so hung up on this? It's just a game." Even losing all those matches against Yugi didn't make me this upset, not upset enough to cry over. I genuinely wanted to know why he was so affected by this._

" _We worked so hard, for months we trained till we thought we were going to die. But it wasn't enough, I wasn't enough. I wasted all of their efforts."_

 _Katsuya's muffled voice reaches me, a voice filled with so much pain, it was hard for me to respond. I could still hear the pundits' excitement over his performance ringing in my ears. Katsuya's third and final game was nothing short of spectacular despite their loss. I enjoyed it very much. "Are you sure we were watching the same game?"_

" _And you… I told you I would become a man worthy of having you. I told myself I had to become a world class champion just to keep you. Instead, I brought you all the way to America just to watch me fail. I feel like I just lost the right to be with you." He sobbed._

 _Me? Is he feeling this devastated because of me?_

" _How could I be so stupid? How could I be a loser and still remain by your side?"_

 _Why does he assume I'm ruled by vanity? I wouldn't care either way. I pull him away and forced him to look me in the eyes. "What makes a loser is not losing a game, it's giving up. And that's not you. You've had setbacks before, haven't you? But you always surprise me, you always come back stronger than ever before. Look, I really don't care if you win or lose, it's what you do from here that I care about. Are you just going to give up here? What you said to me in the classroom that day, were they just words?"_

Another memory, another regret. _Ah, I had never given him any sense of security, did I…_ Everyday each one would sting him in his chest. Kaiba would sometimes visit his old high school classroom and sit in his seat for a while, laughing to himself over how they used to be, lamenting in solitude over what they never became. Love and regret, two things that he struggled between in the last eight years. He now wished he had done more, said more, given more. There's so much Katsuya never received from him, a lifetime's worth of Kaiba's love was too much for him to keep to himself.

And Kaiba even discovered how cheap a thing vengeance was. Within a year after of Katsuya's death he had already exhausted every method he knew how upon the object of his ceaseless rage. He reverted to what he knew best. Destruction, annihilation, anything short of choking the life out of the man.

 _I took the bag off over his head. I wanted him to see the face of the man who had come to kill him. I wanted him to see me, feel my rage, and know fear. Because the pain I would inflict on him would be only one iota of what he did to me. Benjamin Fowler, the only one of the Kaiba Corp. board members that was an American, and the only possible person who knew where we'd be that day._

 _The tied-up man looks at me so confused and then utters. "You… what are you doing?"_

" _Oh me?" I say. "I've just kidnapped you, that's all. What? Do you have a complaint? Should I call the police for you?" I tell him pulling out my cell phone ready to dial emergency services for him. "Now's your chance."_

" _Wait, don't."_

 _Not surprising, I'm sure he wouldn't want the police to be sniffing around his business, too many dirty skeletons in that closet._

" _Who ordered it?" I ask casually. I'm sure they all wanted to get rid of me but Fowler's not smart enough nor brave enough to attack me, not on his own anyway._

" _I don't know what you're talking about."_

 _Big mistake. I pull out a gun from my back pocket and without even a moment's passing I shoot Fowler in the foot. The response is immediate as an agonizing scream echoes through the soundproof warehouse basement we are in, the wooden chair he's sitting in would've fallen back if it wasn't nailed to the floor. "You know, one of the more amazing things about your country is that you can really get these anywhere." I tell him, referring to the pistol in my hand while observing him reeling in an incredible amount of pain. I put the gun to his forehead and watch him suppress it all into shock gasps, the feeling that passes over me is only momentarily satisfying. "We're in the middle of nowhere and no one is around to hear you scream." My thumb unlocks the safety. "I won't ask again."_

" _Muzaka…" he gasps._

 _Figures, Muzaka was always loyal to Gozaburo. But it doesn't matter, anyway. I will obliterate all the board members one by one._

" _It was… supposed to be you… he wasn't supposed to be there…" he wheezed through his pain and terror. "It was an accident."_

" _The guy you hired had really shitty aim. And now Jounouchi is..." I had to pause, I can't even say the words without giant waves of fury pulsating throughout my whole body. "which is why you have to die too." Once again, I levy the gun right in his face._

" _Seto please," The man begins begging for his life. "I've… known you since you… were a child… don't do this…" his eyes are squeezed shut, tears streaming a grown man's face as he waits for the inevitable._

 _Click. I pull the trigger but only a clicking sound comes out. This is because I only loaded the gun with one bullet. Fowler looks shell-shocked that I actually pulled the trigger and even more shocked that a bullet didn't come out. Before relief can set in I feel I must inform him of something. "Shall I tell you why you are still alive?" He came to me in a dream. "He told me that he didn't want me to become a murderer." I made sure to lean into his ear. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to make you to want to die. The hell you're going to live from now on is only a small fraction of mine."_

Kaiba spent the last 8 years of his life tracking down the members of the board and leaving them destitute. Their families left them, their multimillion dollar homes were foreclosed on. Their elitist life was brought to a screeching halt. They became homeless, living on the streets fighting for crumbs. He had used everything at his disposal to follow them around and make their lives a perpetuating never-ending abyss of despair. Over the years, he led two of them to their suicide, one died from illness, Kento Muzaka went into hiding, and Benjamin Fowler did the smart thing and turned himself in. Feeling shook and mentally unbalanced from their encounter, he felt that prison was the perfect shield from Kaiba's wrath.

He thought it would make him feel even a little bit better, crushing these people under his feet was supposed to alleviate a little of his agony. But it didn't. It still hurt, all the way to his core as it did from day one, a pain so persisting he had become numb just to cope. Why wasn't he here? It was such an outrageous reality. That a world without him continued to exist, made him want to destroy it.

" _Bottom of the ninth at the world series finals and Katsuya Jounouchi must get his third baseman to home if he hopes to tie!" The crowd is a buzz with Katsuya's final arrival to the better box. The Tokyo Knights are down by one but their opponent is very strong, no one has managed to score a hit off of them for the last two batters. One man on third base, two outs, Katsuya has to make a successful hit just to tie the game, but he hasn't been able to get a hit off their pinch pitcher since the guy came in sixth inning._

 _My heart is racing, and I can't help but admit how exhilarating the game is. My adrenaline under the hot sunny day is making me sweat. I stood in this very arena a year ago, where Katsuya lost third round. I saw how hurt he was by that loss. But in just a year he managed to make it to the finals at the world series. How far will he continue to grow? There's nothing stopping him, very soon his talent will outgrow even me._

" _Strike one!"_

 _If he wins this game… perhaps I'll tell him once and for all… how I really feel._

" _Strike two!"_

 _Before he tires of me and leaves to greater heights, I'll tell him that I… My eyes fall on him and they lock onto each other. The wind picks up, Katsuya gives me a small smile and then mouths something. I almost hear it, the whisper dissolved into air somehow reaches my ears._

' _You're mine.'_

 _Clang! Katsuya connects with the ball and delivers the first and only home run of the entire game, the ball blowing past even the arena crowd and into the ether. The crowd is uncontrollable, the cheers are so loud. The Tokyo Knights have just won the world series. And Katsuya Jounouchi just became the youngest cleanup batter in history to lead their team to a world championship victory._

Kaiba began his morning routine. When he the first thing he would think about would be the same thing as the last thing he thought about the night before.

 _In the streets of New York, I'm staring down the barrel of a gun. I'm waiting for Katsuya to come. With the goals he's accomplished, I can finally give him the peace of mind he's been seeking._ _In another 15 minutes, I can finally tell him how I feel. But this man has obviously come to kill me, he has a gun pointed right at me. Beyond surprise, I am unprepared to defend myself as the man's finger touches the trigger. I find myself complacent to my fate. I'm not sure I feel anything at all, I should be scared but I'm not. As my life flashes before my eyes there are very few good memories and an ocean of terrible ones. Mokuba will cry, but he'll be alright. I've left enough behind to take care of him forever. For now, I'm tired. I've lived enough, this seems like a good place to stop. But then fragrant memories fill my head. Memories with Katsuya, surround me and I am filled with one thought. 'What a shame, I had really wanted to be with that idiot a little longer.'_

 _Suddenly, someone whips in front of me and hugs me tightly. I hear three gunshots but feel not one of them. I looked down and see blond hair. It can't be…_

" _No…" I utter. I place a hand on his back and then pull it back. Blood. Lots of it._

" _Are you… okay?" Katsuya asks me._

 _Before I can even respond, I can feel Katsuya sliding out of my grasp and to the ground. In order to keep my grip, I go down with him. Looking up, I observe that the assailant has already scurried off. Frantically, I pull out my phone to call the police._

 _"I know my body best… this is it for me," he says. "I don't think I'm going to make it."_

 _"Hello, I need an ambulance!" I ignored him, looking up I see a 37th St. sign in the distance and relay that information "Get here! Someone's been shot!"_

 _Katsuya grips my shirt as it becomes harder for him to breathe. "Get out of here… it's too dangerous…"_

 _"Shut up." I say, ripping off my jacket and putting it behind him to apply pressure to the wound. "How could you do something so stupid?"_

 _"I couldn't let anything happen… to my enemy…"_

 _"I'm not sure you know what that word means." I say gripping him closer to me, my eyes threaten to water at the words._

 _"I know what… it means to me…" he whispers, "what you… mean to me…"_

 _I have never been this terrified in my whole life. I don't know what to do. I can hear police sirens in the background but they are not fast enough. I'm doing all I can to stop the flow but it's not enough, there's too much blood pooling on the ground. "There's so much blood… how do I stop it?!"_

 _"I'm sorry…" Katsuya coughs up blood before smiling weakly. I can feel his hand cup my cheek. "I had wanted... more time with you… because I…" he's now become too weak to speak. Instead he brings me closer and places his lips on mine. His kiss is soft, warm… and oh so very sweet as I feel his last breath of life against my mouth._

 _"Katsuya?" I don't want to pull away but I have to. I tap his face. "Katsuya! Katsuya wake up, don't scare me like this! Katsuya!" My love looks so peaceful leaving me behind like this. "Katsuya… don't do this to me…" I can hear my voice breaking, my forehead resting against his. "Open your eyes…" His body is still warm though all traces of life have vanished, leaving a tremendous pain in my chest. A pain so great, I could die just to get away from it._

 _There is a pinging sound piercing through my head. It's like a bomb going off. I can't hear anything outside of myself, except the hollow echo of my heart shattering. What is this feeling? This feeling pulsating through my inner emptiness, as if I am losing the only person who could fill it? My throat hurts all of a sudden, and is followed by a translucent blurriness in my eyes. It's only when the hot tears roll down my cheeks and slide off my chin do I notice why my throat hurts. It's because I had screamed until my throat was torn to pieces._

Kaiba opened a secret passage, and slowly walked down the stairs.

" _It appears that Mr. Kaiba has gone insane with grief…" I hear the doctors tell Mokuba._

" _Even if you don't care about me, and even if you don't care about yourself, it's the life Jounouchi died to protect!" Mokuba screamed as he holds me back from doing the unthinkable. "Don't treat it so lightly!" The knife I'm holding against my neck falls to the ground. Fine. If I can't go to him, then he must come here. The seeds of obsession are already sown._

"That's right." Kaiba momentarily paused at the recollection. "All these years, I didn't even have the right to die since it's the life he died to protect. But this cannot stand. He should be here. He must be here. I won't allow this insane absurdity to continue. I won't allow this world, a world without him, to continue."

"Come back. We don't have to be together. It would be enough for me to know that you exist in this world, that someone like you was not taken from this world." Kaiba led Jounouchi to his death after all, he didn't dare dream of asking for more than that. Kaiba stood in front of a contraption that took him nearly a decade to build. The machine resembled vertical cryogenic tube with gigantic numbers and a powerful light source.

 _My enemy will come back to this place, one way or the other. I swear it._

* * *

 **9 pages:** okay I'm very happy that I finally wrote this. The next update won't happen for a couple months. I am super busy at the moment, going to school full time with two jobs eats up all my time. I usually write in third person narrative but I wanted to try to tell the story of what happened from Seto's point of view, and though it's easier and flows better speaking in the past tense I thought that the present first person narrative would have more impact. This is also to signify that Seto really doesn't know what time he's in. He's lost all sense of self and time after Jou died that's why when he thinks about it, it's almost as if he's reliving it in the moment. What do you guys think, was it a good format? Read and review see you later^^


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